Approximately one third of the Saskatchewan provincial highway system is comprised of thin granular pavements. Unfortunately, significant portionsof the Saskatchewan thin granular pavement system are exhibiting varying degrees of performance including structural failures. Research has shown that many thin granular failures initiate within the granular base layer, and are primarily driven by high deviatoric stress states and/or high finematerial content within the grain size distribution. As a result of the aged condition state of many thin granular pavements coupled with increased load spectra demands, much of the Saskatchewan thin granular paved system will require some form of structural rehabilitation in the foreseeable future. Therefore a better understanding of the performance related properties of marginal granular base materials is required to optimize rehabilitation of various quality in situ granular materials. This research employed triaxial frequency sweep testing to characterize the mechanical materialconstitutive behavior of a typical Saskatchewan granular base across various fine material content and cementitious strengthening to provide a framework for selection and specification of granular stabilization systems. Based on the findings of this study, increased fines content was found to significantly degrade the mechanistic behavior of the granular base material. It was also found that cementitious strengthening significantly improved the mechanical behavior of high fines content granular base materials to the point where granular bases with high fines content may be recycled and used as road structural materials.
Samenvatting